Several days had passed since the incident. Percy was still a little bruised from his fight with Will, but he'd had worse. He had been more hurt by Will's words than his fists, and all of his interactions during the week had begun to weigh on him. He was a leader in the camp, and he was used to being liked. He had voiced his feelings to Annabeth.

Annabeth placed her hand on his back as he spoke to her about what's been on his mind. "It seems like you have a lot on your plate. You have a lot of pent-up frustrations. Have you been doing anything to relax or ease your mind off it?"

Percy laughed a little. "Not really. I probably should. I just can't stop thinking about it. I'm supposed to be someone to look up to." He sighed. "You know it's not just because I saved the world or whatever Will said. I don't know."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Percy, Will is a little piece of shit. Don't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth. He's just jealous, and it's obvious." She couldn't help but giggle at the thought.

"Jealous?" Percy scoffed. "Okay, what would he have to be jealous about? Besides my amazing good looks and charming wit, of course."

Annabeth laughed, "Oh, Percy, I still don't understand how you haven't caught on yet. It's Nico. He's jealous of you and Nico."

Percy rolled his eyes. "What is there to be jealous about? I'm sure Nico would defend Will in a fight too."

"You and Nico have a bond that Will could never recreate. Nico has always looked up to you ever since we rescued him from Westover Hall. Both of you have seen some things that Will could never understand. So, of course, Will is jealous."

Percy shrugged. "You're right, I guess. We've been through a lot together. That's not my fault, though," he grumbled.

Annabeth chuckled, "Don't stress about it. Actually, I have an idea. What do you say we go swimming for today? It's a perfect day out. We've finished all our chores, come on. Water always helps you to calm down." She tugged at his arm to distract his attention.

Percy jumped up, grinning. "You really are a genius, Wise Girl. Let's do it."

Annabeth got on her feet, "It's my job to be the genius in this relationship," she joked. "Alright, you can grab the towels and maybe a few drinks while I go and get changed. I'll be back soon, so don't do anything stupid while I'm gone, Seaweed Brain."

"Me? Never," he winked.

She quickly placed a kiss on his lips and rolled her eyes before she left for her cabin.

Annabeth had finished getting ready for her day at the lake with Percy. She couldn't remember the last time they took time for themselves. Ever since things at camp had gone back to normal (sort of), there wasn't much time to relax. It wasn't just Annabeth who constantly felt on edge about the events of the last few months. Everyone was thinking the same thing. That it wasn't actually over, and it was just another trick up Gaea's sleeve. She exhaled to get rid of those evil thoughts and collected her belongings. She was about to make her way back to the Poseidon cabin when she heard a loud explosion from the bathhouse behind the Athena cabin. There was a chorus of gasps and shrieks as she and a few of her cabinmates rushed out of the cabin to see what all the commotion was about.

The roof of the bathhouse had been blown off, scattering debris in all directions. A geyser of water blasted up through the hole in the center of the roof, drenching the whole building. Pipes emerged out of the ground at odd angles, and water drizzled off of every structure like some sort of amusement park ride. Small rivers trickled out of the flooded interior and onto the grass around the building.

Annabeth and her cabinmates were among the first to reach the scene, but there was one familiar figure who had beaten them there. Percy stood facing the scene, seemingly unable to look away. As Annabeth cautiously approached, she noticed the look of bewilderment on his face, as though he was desperately trying to put the pieces together to figure out what had happened.

Annabeth reached out and grabbed Percy's shoulder to get his attention. "Hey! Are you okay? What happened?"

Percy stared straight ahead as he answered. "I... don't know. I was just walking by, and then..."

"Why were you way over here?" she urged.

"I was on my way to get some snacks from the pavilion like you said."

"Did you see anything weird? Was anyone around when it exploded?" Annabeth did what she is best known for, and that is asking questions, "Is anyone hurt? Was anyone inside when it happened? It seems to be too big of an explosion to have been caused by pressure in pipes. It doesn't make sense because you're the only person who has the ability to do something like this-"

"Annabeth!" Percy finally turned to her, roughly pushing her hand off of his shoulder. "I don't know what happened, and I didn't do it! I swear I was just passing by."

She huffed. "I didn't say it was you. I believe you. I'm just trying to make sense of it." She looked back at the flooded bathhouse. "This kind of puts a damper on our plans for the afternoon."

During their conversation, nearly the whole camp had gathered at the site of the explosion to see what had happened. Chiron paced nervously at the edge of the crowd, occasionally casting wary glances at Percy and Annabeth.

A voice from the crowd shouted, "Yo, Jackson! What did you do to the bathhouse?"

Percy whipped around toward the others. "I didn't do anything!" he snarled.

Annabeth grabbed Percy's arm firmly and hissed, "Calm. Down." He turned back to the bathhouse and sighed in annoyance.

Chiron began ushering the campers away from the scene. "Alright, everyone, get back to your duties. I will investigate this event." As the crowd started to disperse, Chiron approached Percy and Annabeth. "Percy, do you know how this happened?"

"I didn't do it if that's what you're implying," he snapped.

"Percy!" Annabeth disapproved.

"My apologies. It wasn't my intention. I only wish to figure out what caused this," Chiron said evenly.

Percy ignored Chiron and scanned the retreating groups of campers until he found who he had been hoping not to see. Standing alone a few yards away from Percy was Theseus, his face utterly blank of emotions. Ever since their encounter at the arena, Percy had been avoiding Theseus at all costs. Following his conversation with Nico, Percy felt more and more suspicious of the outsider, despite wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt at first. Since their fight, Percy had begun to feel paranoid, sure that Theseus could strike him at any moment. And if Theseus was present and apparently unbothered by this latest development, Percy felt sure there was a connection. Anxious to get some answers about the situation, Percy marched over to Theseus, leaving Annabeth and Chiron to begin cleaning up the mess.

"I don't know how, but I know you did this," Percy growled once he reached where Theseus had been standing alone.

"Whhaatt?" Theseus feigned ignorance, "Me? How could you say such a thing? I would never!"

Percy groaned frustratedly. "I know you have something against me. Why that could be, I don't know, but just know that I'm onto you."

"Oh, please," Theseus laughed, dropping the innocent act, "You couldn't possibly understand. You walk around with this heroic act, but we all know there's nothing underneath that." Theseus narrowed his eyes, a dangerous aura radiating off of him. The corner of his lip twitched with annoyance, "You're so desperate to be everyone's hero," he continued, "You could never imagine yourself in a position where you aren't the center of attention." Theseus took a step forward, leaving only inches between them.

Percy stepped back and stared at him with disbelief, unsure about Theseus's motives now that his demeanor had changed so suddenly. He questioned if he should take Theseus's words as a threat or not. Uncertain about his next course of action, Percy wondered where this guy came from, not just about his godly parent, but what drew him to terrorize the camp. It was evident that Theseus's intentions were threatening. However, Percy knew that Theseus wouldn't attempt to do anything with witnesses around. That alone made him confident enough to retaliate.

"I don't know who the hell you are or where you came from, but this isn't how things work around here," Percy took a step forward to prove his dominance. "It's obvious you hate me, but hello, I've never met you before!" He snapped. "What could I have possibly done to you for you to come after me like this?" Percy felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins, this newfound confidence encouraging him to push back harder.

"EVERYTHING! You and your perfect life-" Theseus bellowed, abruptly cutting himself off. He took a deep breath and released a long sigh, the angry flush slowly draining from his cheeks. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, so stay out of my way," he said calmly. "Besides, you don't have any evidence to prove that I was the one who caused the explosion."

"I don't need evidence. It's clear that you want to frame me for this mess." Percy responded defensively but was taken aback by the sudden eruption. He had found a crack in Theseus's composed demeanor, which was ordinarily relaxed and calculated but entirely under control.

"How could I do something like this? Are you stupid? You're the one with the freaky superpowers, water boy."

Percy balled his fists, wanting to knock Theseus's teeth out, but withheld himself because he didn't want to cause a scene in front of Annabeth. So instead, he forcefully shoved Theseus away from him, "Stay the hell away from me," he spat.

"You want me to refresh that black eye for ya?" Percy said through gritted teeth as he cocked an eyebrow. As he spoke, water from the ruined bathhouse climbed from the ground into Percy's open hand, elongating into the shape of a javelin.

Theseus's eyes flickered to the new weapon in Percy's hand, examining how much of a threat stood before him. After a moment, he reached his conclusion and scoffed. "You think you're so cool playing with the powers you got from your daddy?" He closed the distance between them, staring unblinkingly into Percy's eyes. "You don't scare me. You would be nothing without your powers. If you were really heroic, you would fight me fair and square."

Percy stared back as well as he could, but his angry exterior faltered for just a moment, and his breath hitched as he took a minuscule step back. He had to admit that he was concerned about what exactly Theseus was capable of. This newcomer was still a total mystery to Percy, and even armed, that uncertainty made Percy incredibly uneasy.

"People like you don't deserve a fair fight. If I could, I'd beat you into the ground right here."

"What's stopping you?"

"What's with the heavy artillery, guys? We going into war again?" The familiar voice of Jason interrupted the tension that only two powerful demigods could produce. His eyes flickered down to the make-shift javelin in Percy's hand, wondering why it was necessary. He overheard the last exchange but chose not to address it. Instead, he placed a hand on either of the boys' chests, pushing them from each other as he stepped in between them. "What's really going on?" he asked, giving Percy the side-eye.

"Nothing." Percy answered, not breaking eye contact with Theseus, who was smiling, "You wouldn't understand."

"Perce, you had a weapon and had murder written all over your face. Everyone around could sense something was up. Just tell me."

"I don't need you to defend me," Percy snapped, sharply shoving Jason's hand away from his chest and turning to leave.

"Percy!" Jason called and grabbed Percy's arm to prevent him from leaving.

"Let me go!" Percy growled as he snatched his arm back and stormed away.

Jason scratched the back of his head in confusion as he turned to face Theseus. "Maybe you should stay away from him?" he suggested, unsure how to approach a situation he didn't understand.

Annabeth watched as Percy stormed away in the direction of the Poseidon cabin and, deciding her expertise was better served elsewhere, turned to follow him. She watched him enter the cabin and bounded up to the door a few seconds later, pausing to knock softly. After a moment, the door swung open.

"What do you want?" Percy snapped before realizing who was waiting outside. He immediately corrected himself. "Sorry, sorry, Annabeth."

"Can I come in?" Annabeth asked patiently.

Percy nodded distractedly. "Yeah, yeah, come in." He backed up from the threshold to admit her, and she stepped inside.

"Is everything okay? Did something happen between you and Theseus?"

"No! I'm fine!" He paced back and forth.

"Clearly."

"What's his problem?! Why is he so hung up on getting me in trouble? I never did anything to him! I literally don't know who he is!" He brought his hands up to his head and gripped his hair in frustration. "Gods! I just want to hit him!" he shouted angrily.

"Percy-"

"All I wanted was to have a nice and relaxing day with you, but no! He had to come in and ruin that too!"

"Percy! We can still have that-"

"No! We can't! He ruins everything! Why is he so obsessed with me?!"

"Are you done?" Annabeth asked, her arms crossed. "From where I stand, it looks like you're the one obsessed with him."

"Annabeth!"

"No, Percy, I'm serious! What has been going on with you the past couple of days? You don't sleep, you barely eat, you're distancing yourself from everybody, and you're always so paranoid that someone's out to get you. Is there something you're not telling me? Should I get Chiron involved?"

"It's not like that! You just don't understand!"

"Me?! Percy, you've been dodging me every chance you get! How could I possibly understand when you're keeping things behind my back?" Her voice cracked, the hurt apparent in her voice. "If anyone could understand, it would be me, so why don't you trust me?"

Percy groaned in frustration, "I do trust you, I do! I don't even understand what's going on myself, and that scares me. I don't get scared, Annabeth!"

It was hard for Annabeth to see Percy worked up this. He'd always been so sure of himself, but now he seemed so lost. She always knew that she could count on him to stay optimistic and composed. "Percy...why don't we go by the dock to sit and relax? Maybe it'll ease your mind."

"Why can't you see that I have no time to relax?" he snapped.

"Perseus Jackson! I know you're upset, but that doesn't mean you get to lash it out on me! I'm trying to help you, but you seem like you don't want it," Annabeth shouted at him and went straight for the exit. She opened the door and paused to look back at him, "Come find me when you're ready to have a proper conversation," she croaked, blinking back angry tears as she left the cabin.

"Annabeth, wait!" Percy called as he ran after her, realizing his mistake. "I'm sorry," he yelled from the doorway, "Please don't do this. Come back," he begged.

"Grow up, Percy." She stated without looking back at him.